This paper examines the public
and private context of Morris Opler’s Cold War criticism that Betty Meggers and
Leslie White’s theoretical perspective were laden with the ideas of
crypto-Marxism.While White was
significantly influenced by the Marxist tradition, the nature of Opler’s
attacks went beyond the establishment of epistemological influences and entered
the realm of McCarthyistic Red Baiting.The climate of McCarthyism gave Opler the opportunity to strengthen his
criticisms of Meggers’ and White’s attacks onpsychological anthropology with a powerful political threat by linking
their work with Stalinism and Marxism.The history of White and Opler’s relationship, and the correspondence of
Meggers, Opler, White and others indicate Opler’s criticisms were influenced by
long-standing personal and professional quarrels with White.